HostUSDC vs BUSD — price, size and safety, side by side
USDC (Solana) vs BUSD (Linea) — every figure is the freshest dated measurement we hold for that token, never a live-feed guess. Prices stamped 2026-10-17 / 2026-10-17.
USDC vs BUSD — normalized performance, 2026-10-09 to 2026-10-17T03:15:24
| USDC | BUSD | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.9998 | $0.997 |
| Market cap | $8.60B | — |
| 24h volume | $1.90B DEX | $536.06 DEX |
| Liquidity | $464.95M | $56.44K |
| FDV | $8.60B | $111.95K |
| Holders | 5,248,202 | 94,668 |
| Age (days) | — | 1,177 |
| Safety grade | A | A |
Where they differ
- USDC measures ~8,237× the liquidity of BUSD
- USDC measures ~3,543,670× the 24h volume of BUSD
- USDC measures ~55× the holder count of BUSD
What the data says
USDC
USDC is the dollar most of Solana actually trades in, and judging it takes a different lens than the one that works on memecoins. This is a centralized, fiat-backed stablecoin: Circle issues it, holds the reserves behind it, and publishes monthly attestations of those reserves. On Solana it lives at mint EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v, where the October 6, 2026 snapshot records about $8.6 billion of market capitalization, roughly 5.25 million holders, and around $465 million of tracked pool liquidity — the deepest dollar venue on the chain.
Here is the part that confuses people who learned token safety from rug-checkers: USDC's mint and freeze authorities are live, on purpose, permanently. Circle has to mint new USDC when dollars come in and burn it when they go out — that is what "backed" means mechanically — and it maintains the ability to freeze addresses to comply with sanctions and court orders, which it has used. On a memecoin, a live mint authority is the classic rug lever; on a fiat-backed stablecoin it is the product working as designed. The risk hasn't vanished — it has moved from an anonymous deployer to a regulated company, which is a trade most holders are knowingly making.
BUSD
BUSD clears the most important contract test cleanly. Minting simply isn't in the contract, so dilution isn't on the table, and with no transfer pause in the contract either, your exit stays open whenever you choose to take it. Clearing both of those in one go is a strong sign, and it's what puts BUSD at 92/100 as of the 2026-10-09 snapshot.
Here's where BUSD stands today: workable liquidity of $56.44K, 94,668 wallets holding and an established record at 1,177 days as of 2026-10-09. Treat $56.44K as the room your trade has to work in — the smaller the pool relative to your size, the more your own order moves the price. A 94,668-holder base is a fair start, but distribution matters more than the count — check how much sits in the largest wallets before leaning on it. Reassuringly, the wallet that created BUSD holds under 5% of supply (<0.01%) as of 2026-10-09 — the deployer hasn't kept an oversized stake to unload.
FAQ
Which is bigger, USDC or BUSD?
By tracked market cap: USDC (Solana) measures $8.60B and BUSD (Linea) measures — — dated snapshots, not a live feed.
Which is safer, USDC or BUSD?
On the contract checks we publish: USDC (Solana) grades A and BUSD (Linea) grades A. A grade is a structural check on the contract, not a promise about the asset.
How have USDC and BUSD performed over the shared window?
Between 2026-10-09 and 2026-10-17T03:15:24, the measured snapshots show USDC at +0.02% and BUSD at +0.11%.
The grade column is the one CMC's compare page cannot print — our grade is computed from the contract itself (mint/freeze authority, liquidity, holder concentration). Changes are measured over the shared window stated on the chart, 2026-10-09→2026-10-17T03:15:24; a token with fewer measured points measures a shorter span inside it.
Figures are dated on-chain snapshots, not a live feed. Safety grades are structural checks — not investment advice. Free · no signup · a HostDeFi product.